East Meadow qualifies seven

For wrestlers, it’s the time of year they look forward to the instant they hit the mat to start a new season. The annual Nassau County Division I Championships is on the horizon this weekend at Hofstra University, and East Meadow’s sending seven members of its team to the competition, all of whom qualified by finishing among the top four in their weight class at the Qualifying Tournament hosted by Plainedge last Saturday.

The Jets as a team, finished third in the seven-team field, one of six locations that hosted a qualifying tournament, and had three wrestlers win individual titles.

Senior Adam Smith, ranked No. 1 in his weight class in Nassau County entering last Saturday’s tournament, lived up to his advanced billing, winning all three of his matches at 126 pounds, including a 6-3 decision over Jake Lerner, the No. 2 seed, from Plainedge. Smith took an early lead with a pair of takedowns and controlled the match from there. “He was technically sound and up for the challenge,” coach Chris Edmund said. “He’s been our leader from start to finish and it was just more of the same.”

While most wrestlers tend to drop down a weight class or two by the time the Qualifying Tournaments roll around in early February, East Meadow senior Chris Santos actually moved up from 195 to compete at 220. It’s hard to argue with that decision, as he ripped off a pair of pins and then defeated Ed Sanchez of Island Trees, 8-4, in the finals. “We felt like it would benefit him to go up,” Edmund said. “It gave him an advantage with his quickness because guys at 220 [pounds] are a little slower. It worked out well and we hope it continues at the County’s.”

Among the more impressive performances of the tournament was freshman Jesse Levenson’s run to the individual title at 99 pounds. He finished a perfect 3-0 on the day, winning his championship with a pin of Plainedge’s Tom Yannaros at the 5:07 mark. Levenson ended the close match by catching Yannaros in a bottom cradle and turning it into a pin. “[The bracket] had seniors that didn’t qualify and here’s a freshman that won it,” Edmund said. “Anytime you win a tournament it’s a good day. He’s improved a lot from the beginning of the year, and he’s very coachable.”

Senior Brandon Cohen came up just shy of an individual title at 132 pounds, dropping a 3-0 decision to Glen Cove’s Joe Nicolich, and senior Joshua Levenson lost a 14-2 majority decision in the finals at 152 pounds to Great Neck South’s Elias Kokalis. Both still advanced to the County Tournament this weekend, along with sophomore Andre Cunha, a third-place finisher who knocked off Glen Cove’s Morgan Marshall, 3-2, in the placing round. Cunha’s only loss came against his bracket’s top seed. Sophomore Danny Grigonis took fourth place at 138 pounds.